Tuesday, September 25, 2012

My Top Five Rick Bayless Recipes

Over the last six months I've been cooking up the recipes of Rick Bayless with my friends at the I Heart Cooking Clubs group. After spending six months with a chef I always end up with a few favorites. These are the dishes that my family loved the most. In fact, all of the dishes below have been repeated in my kitchen at least once, if not more, since I first made and shared them here on my site.

First up, and quite possibly the most popular of all the Rick Bayless dishes I tried, are these Cafe Tacuba-Style Creamy Chicken Enchiladas. These enchiladas are a perfect and comforting family meal. Roasted poblanos and spinach are combined to make a very flavorful and creamy sauce that is poured over casserole-style enchiladas. These enchiladas are awesome!

These Crusty Black Bean-Chorizo Subswere our first introduction to the Mexican torta and they were a huge hit. It is worth seeking out traditional Mexican bolillo rolls at your supermarket because the bread really does make a difference. We loved these layered sammies with smashed black beans, spicy chorizo, creamy avocado, and salty feta cheese all served up on some good crusty bread. I crave these sandwiches.

To prove that we love a good Mexican torta, here is another hit recipe. My Mom, and my husband, went crazy for these Crispy Chicken Tortas. Here again, you have a layer of seasoned and smashed black beans, a crispy breaded chicken cutlet, monterey jack cheese, and creamy avocado on a crusty bolillo roll. My Mom declared this one of her favorite meals I've ever made and even asked that I make these for her birthday. The ultimate compliment.

This Quick and Easy Arroz con Pollo is another great family meal. Rick calls for whole pieces of chicken in this recipe, which would probably be equally delicious, but I decided to make a quicker version with some leftover sliced rotisserie chicken. You know how sometimes a dish turns out perfectly seasoned? This is how I feel about this dish. Everything about this dish was perfectly seasoned and balanced and the rice was incredibly fluffy. This is a great staple dish and the leftovers, if there are any, definitely improve with time.

This wraps up my time with Rick. I'm so happy I had the chance to explore his cookbooks and try so many of his recipes. Starting next week we're going to be cooking the recipes of Madhur Jaffrey.

I'm so glad you commented on my blog so I could find you. I can tell I've going to love your posts. I just did a blog post on that Toasty Garlic Shrimp. I'm glad to know about those enchiladas. And I've looked that that photo of that black bean sub 50 times and have never made it. Great line up of Bayless recipes here.

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